<< Prev Page 2 of 2 In an attempt to address the engine issues, Ford reached out to Cosworth for a new four-cylinder engine. Known as the 'DFP', the turbocharged unit was derived from the successful DFV engine and once again displaced 2.1-litres. This allowed the car to run in the three-litre class taking into account the 1.4 equivalency for forced induction engines. From a reliability perspective, it was barely an improvement with retirements still a regular occurrence. Things really went Ford's way during the Laguna Seca race where Ludwig started from pole and scored that elusive first victory.
Desperate to keep the program on track, Zakspeed also tried a naturally aspirated, Roush-prepared V8 late in 1986 with little to show for it. After further poor showings early in 1987, the works-backed effort was scratched altogether. The cars did not re-appear until 1988, when they were run by Tom Miller Racing both with the V8 and Zakspeed Turbo engines. A separate car, known as the Ford Maxum GTP was also raced, which had some additional input from Brown, who had left Zakspeed. One of the Miller cars appeared at Daytona as late as 1991 but no further results of note were scored.
Although Ludwig did manage to get that single victory at Laguna Seca, it was certainly not third time lucky for Ford during the Group C and GTP era. Although the Blue Oval has since returned to sports car racing with production-based GT cars, the Mustang Probe GTP does hold the distinction of being the very last sports prototype produced for the Ford works team. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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In an attempt to address the engine issues, Ford reached out to Cosworth for a new four-cylinder engine. Known as the 'DFP', the turbocharged unit was derived from the successful DFV engine and once again displaced 2.1-litres. This allowed the car to run in the three-litre class taking into account the 1.4 equivalency for forced induction engines. From a reliability perspective, it was barely an improvement with retirements still a regular occurrence. Things really went Ford's way during the Laguna Seca race where Ludwig started from pole and scored that elusive first victory.